Can Any Business Even Make a Plan Right Now?

You see it everywhere you look. Big, well-funded technology companies turning on a dime and adapting and changing to give more access and more service to more people:

• Zoom offering free accounts to any business in hopes of acquiring long term clients
• Khan Academy providing free resources for students, teachers, and parents 
• Linkedin and Lynda.com working together to create an engaging, 16-part course on effectively working at home

While these large companies are fortunate that their financial situations can allow for such large gestures, small business owners, on the other hand, are less able to make such large financial bets. The uncertainty is paralyzing. The well is too dry and the risk is too high.

Unable to invest more at this time, most local businesses have had to make more operational and business model transformations practically overnight in order to survive. Businesses that have operated in the same traditional manner for generations are making fundamental shifts. I have been impressed and inspired by many creative pivots including: 

• Restaurants adding supplies to their menu (yeast, toilet paper, fruits and veggies in bulk)
• Service providers reinventing the meaning of white-glove service 
• Bicycle stores offering bike building and delivery services
• Local brewers turning into door-to-door and curbside delivery operations
• Local Food Co-ops handling a new influx of customers
• Local Farms standing up CSAs to feed entire communities 
• Local product producers finding new distribution in national chains
• Garden Centers and local gift shops becoming e-commerce sites overnight

What previously would have taken years to accomplish is now happening in a matter of days. I am inspired by this agility. 

It is my prediction that the local businesses able to truly transform their business models instead of just reacting by cost-cutting will come out of this crisis more prepared than ever for the next wave of growth that is sure to come.